The Global Positioning System (GPS) is used to provide geographic and temporal information via satellite systems that interface with a GPS receiver in order to accurately identify the position of the receiver. To identify the position of the receiver, the receiver uses at least four orbiting satellites, which continuously transmit pseudo-random coded messages that include the time of each transmission as well as the satellite location during each transmission. The receiver collects the transmitted information from the satellites and determines its location based on the information (some GPS devices contain multiple receivers in order to connect with more satellites).
Once the location of the GPS receiver has been determined, a navigation program coupled with a GPS receiver can generate a travel route to a desired location, when equipped with an integrated cartographic database. Integrated cartographic databases allow users to pinpoint a desired location and define it as a destination. Subsequently, the navigation program coupled with a GPS receiver can calculate a route based on the location determined via the satellites and the integrated cartographic databases. While traveling to the desired location, the receiver maintains contact with the satellites in order to track the route traveled while simultaneously providing a same-time map for the user to monitor travel, speed, and estimated time of arrival.